Venom has more or less single-handedly kept the Sonyverse afloat amid the Morbius and Madame Web debacles. But next month, Eddie Brock’s symbiote journey will (presumedly) end with Venom: The Last Dance, a third Venom movie that will bring the action to Vegas, among other locations.
The movie’s latest trailer finally gives fans a glimpse of who the final boss of the Venom trilogy will be, and the decision has huge implications that could extend beyond the Sonyverse and into the MCU.
Venom mentions his “creator,” and around the one-minute mark, we get a glimpse of what looks to be a wizened man with stringy white hair. For comic book fans, this can only mean one thing: Knull. In the Marvel comics, Knull is an evil deity who created the Symbiotes in an attempt to snuff out the Celestials, the ancient deities we met in Eternals.
His influence goes far beyond Venom; he also created All-Black the Necrosword, the weapon Gorr the God-Butcher uses in Thor: Love and Thunder, and he was the main villain in the 2019 comic book storyline Silver Surfer: Black. But in Venom: The Last Dance, his role as Venom’s creator will be front and center. The Symbiotes rebelled against Knull, so he may be trying to reign them in.
We still don’t know who will be playing Knull, but there’s speculation that it’s House of the Dragons’ Rhys Ifans, who was cast in an undisclosed role in the movie (the popular Twitter post claiming the role went to Norman Reedus is completely unfounded). The Otto Hightower actor certainly has the gravitas to play the ancient Knull, a creature who predates even the Celestials and embodies the darkness that existed before the universe was created.
But could there be more in store for Knull beyond this movie? The MCU’s current phase is set to end with Avengers: Secret Wars, a massive crossover event expected to bring the entire Marvel roster together in an extraterrestrial battle royale. Knull has the power to bring Venom and Eddie Brock, or other Sonyverse characters, into the fray, and he’s important enough to the Marvel universe that he could have his own designs on the conflict.
Knull may or may not be a lasting supervillain, but either way, he’s the perfect final foe for the Venom trilogy: a god-level threat that will provide insight into the origin and nature of the Symbiotes themselves. That’s a win the Sonyverse could use after its terrible tales of Amazonian spiders and Morbin’ Time.
